Retro Road Trip (part 1 of 4)

Game Zone
270 Essex St, Salem, MA 01970
Salem, Massachusetts
978-744-2630


A lucky find! One second we were touring the hallowed streets of Salem Massachusetts and learning about the prosecution of alleged witches. Then, BAM! We find what is probably the best retro video games store in the United States (or at least it's in the top 3). The serendipitous encounter would become the first retro gaming shopping trip on our travels.


A small, unassuming brick facade houses the culmination of decades worth of video game history. Just name it. Commodore 64? Of course it's here! Neo Geo AES? You want the box with that? If I had to pick out one fatal flaw (besides not being within walking distance of my house), it would be that they do not appear to have any sort of website. I can't complain too much though. The harder it is for me to buy from there the less likely I am to drive myself broke. Sadly, I did not buy anything here. Not because they didn't have anything I wanted, just because money was a little tight this trip, and there was plenty more to see on this trip without blowing my wad here.

If you've been looking for it, chance are these guys have it.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is in fact a boxed Neo Geo. $600 and she could be yours.

Speaking of boxed stuff... This is one unit I coveted in my youth above most others.
The box was as big as I was, and promised a whole new world of mind-blowing entertainment.
I finally got one of these a few years back but no original box sadly.

I don't actually recognize that grey sucker in the center. You learn so much traveling to these places.

BAM! You've been Robbed!

The unusual suspects. Speaking of unusual...

Fuck! Just when I thought you guys were on the ball...

There are a few more pictures (including the one I teased this series with), on my flickr photostream if you want to see some more of this amazing store. If I ever find myself in Salem again, you'd better believe I'm going back there.


Do check in next week when we visit Digital Press!

Retro Gaming Road Trip

Back in July, some friends of my wife and I were married and the two of us stood in their wedding. On the way there, we came up with a meticulous site-seeing tour that covered Salem Massachusetts, Intercourse (heh heh heh), Pennsylvania, the oldest hamburger joint in the country and other interesting stuff. Beyond the typical site seeing fare however, we also marked some incredible retro gaming locales down in our travel itinerary.


These stores and attractions are so massive that cramming them all into one post would not do them justice. Therefore, over the next few weeks I'll be detailing such exotic retro games paradises as:


Game Zone: Salem Massachusetts

Humble outside,
incredible inside.

This stop was not on my list originally. In fact, I had never heard of this shop until I found myself walking in and seeing piles of old games in mint and near-mint condition. Along with the only boxed Neo Geo AES I've ever seen in person. Sadly, they don't have a website where you can purchase from them directly, but if you find yourself in the area you owe it to yourself to go in and have a look.








Digital Press: Clifton New Jersey

If it's good enough for James Rolfe...

The infamous homebase of the Digitpress.com retro gaming forums and the "North Atlantic Videogame Aficionados" monthly gathering. Not only do they have a working SuperGrafx on display under glass, butJames Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd), has been known to drop in from time to time. 






Fun Spot Arcade: Laconia New Hampshire

Think arcades are dead?
Say that to its face!

Gamer or not, Fun Spot is one place you need to go before you die. Not only is it the largest arcade in the world, it's also a functioning retro-arcade museum! They have a working Space Harrier machine that actually throws you around like a rag doll! Why the hell aren't I there now?






I also visited an assload of Goodwill's between here and New Hampshire. While none of these really stand out, I will detail some of the sweet shit I managed to score while there.


Starting at the end of this week I'll talk about my trip to Game Zone with a huge photo gallery and information about the joint. Next I'll go into Digital Press and explain why it's so important to the retro gaming community (if for no other reason than their incredible forums). And finally we'll take a ride through the largest arcade in the world. It's going to be a fun trip through memory lane.

Hoarders: Stories of Extreme Collectors: John Hancock

Working as a feature writer on Fraggs gave me the freedom to come up with my own articles and segments. Well, it gave me the freedom to pitch articles and segments and see if I could get them picked up anyway. One of those segments was "Hoarders: Stories of Extreme Collectors;" A segment that featured a different hardcore collector every month. One collector was featured in the magazine, and 2 more were interviewed, and awaiting their run. When the magazine re-structured and became a weekly publication, there was no longer any room for the Hoarders feature. Rather than have these 2 collectors stories go untold, I elected to feature them here on retronick.com. With the Portland Retro Gaming Expo on the horizon, the natural choice for this week was...

Extreme Collector & champion for good

John Hancock started to get serious about collecting games in the mid 90s. At that time, John was reacquiring NES games he grew up with, and building upon his collection of Sega Genesis games that he played in high school, adding to his then scant library of around 100 titles. Living in Redding, CA John quickly pursued all information about where to collect games, hitting flea marts, used game stores, and often traveling around to used video rental stores; sometimes going as far as 100 miles away. After collecting for some time, John was introduced to online forums such as digitpress.com, where he got connected to other serious collectors. It was then that his knowledge and pursuit of oddball video games exploded. John attended the Classic Gaming Expo in Burlingame, CA, where he had the good fortune to meet Rick Weis. Soon after, John moved to Washington State, where he got involved with the Northwest Classic Games Enthusiasts, in Seattle. A year later John would help organize a retro video game show in the Portland Area with Rick Weis, which would become the famed, Portland Retrogaming Expo. Six years, and several video game scores later, John is still actively involved with the Retrogaming Expo, as well as organizing a smaller annual video game show for charity in Kelso, WA, to help fundraise for the Children's Justice & Advocacy Center. CJAC is a child friendly agency where children are interviewed and supported after disclosing child abuse. The Show is called Cowlitz Gamers for Kids, and has raised over $4,000 over the last two shows.

Q: How many games in your collection?

A:I have around 6,000 games currently. My collection started over 15 years ago with a box of Atari 7800 games from a San Jose Flea Mart. I sold my then large Star Wars Collection and used the money to start on my NES Collection. I now have 19 complete US collections. They are:

1.  Nes liscenced US set

2.  Sega Genesis CIB

Looks more like a store display
than part of a personal collection.

3.  Nintendo 64 CIB

4.  Sega CD CIB

5.  Sega 32X CIB

6.  N-gage CIB including online exclusives

7   Odyssey 2 CIB

8.  Game.com CIB

9.  Atari 7800

10. Microvision CIB

11. Action Max CIB

12. Interactivevision CIB

13. Neo Geo Pocket CIB

14. RCA Studio II CIB

15. Sega Master System CIB minus Sonic UPC label

16. Nuon

17. Dreamcast CIB

18. Game Gear(loose US cart set)

19.  APF M1000(loose cart set of games)

I am also a boxed light pen away from having a Boxed CIB retail set of a Vectrex Collection.  

Q: What are your favorites?

A:  My favorite games include Robotron 2084 on the 7800, and  Burgertime on the Intellivision.

Q: Has your collection taken over your house, or just a room?

A:  My collection resides in a game room which is a converted garage. It took over a year to construct with custom shelving. The garage only had one electrical outlet when we first bought the house.

Original Atari dust jackets? This guy puts me to shame!

Q: What can you tell us about the rig in your game room?

A: I have Three Television Sets and computer monitors in the game room. I have 32 game systems connected. I have various system selectors for each TV set to connect them all. I use heavy duty hardware shelves to house my game consoles. I usually just use folding lawn chairs for furniture... that way I can easily just move them around to the different TV sets to play things.

Q: What's the largest set within your collection?

A:  My largest set of games is my NES set, with over 800 games that include variants, homebrews, and hacks.

Q: How many consoles do you own, and what sticks out amongst them?

A:  I have over 160 unique consoles. Some of the more bizarre are the White Bally Astrocade, Boxed Memorex Video Information System, and a Pioneer Laseractive.

Q: Approximately how many peripherals do you own?

A:  I have never counted my peripherals, so I would guess in the hundreds.  

Q: What's the craziest thing in your collection?
A: Hard to say something specifically, but I guess a Boxed Intellivision Basic Cart with manual. A friend of mine gave it to me after scoring it at an estate sale for 25 cents.

Q: What's the crown jewel of your collection?
A: My Stadium Events cart for NES. I scored it for a mere $100. It is a long, long story but the short version is that I won a Mystery Box auction at a Classic Gaming Expo in 2005. I won a rare Atari 2600 cart Magicard, and then was offered an insane amount of trade for it. Among one of the things was Stadium Events.

Q: Can you tell us about your "Video Collector DVDs"?
A: I have created a series of DVDs showcasing different parts of my collection to help fellow collectors and enthusiasts pursue these things. The Videos are organized into volumes.  Each DVD showcases Games, System Packaging, and Accessories, for Sega, Nintendo, Oddball Systems, and now Atari.  My Atari 2 disc DVD has just been finished.   Each Volume DVD set is approximately an hour to two hours.  Each Volume is $10 plus shipping.  For more information contact me oneswfan@hotmail.com.

I'd like to reach out and thank John for taking the time to talk to me, and for sharing his incredible collection with us. John also has a collection of videos on YouTube that can be viewed on his channel. He does a great job of showing off key pieces of gaming history, and introducing us to new and interesting artifacts. Here's some more of his collection in pictures:

I think it's a safe bet that John's SNES collection rivals your whole collection.

Party like it's 1977.

His shelving system is not unlike eStarland's.

Wow! I didn't know they made that many Lynx games.

It's times like this I wish I lived near the other Washington...

I admit it, I don't think I'd ever heard of a "Bally Astrocade" before talking to John.

If the first thing you notice in this pic is the garage door mechanism
then you need to work on your priorities.

EarthBound, Stadium Events and Cheetahmen! This guy has everything!

A Spectacle of Modern Commerce

Ok, so I was distraught at the thought of not bringing my Genesis 1 with a Powerbase converter to play me some Phantasy Star and report back; but let me explain. I knew there was only one TV here and I didn't want to monopolize it. I know, I'm a real sweetheart. That said, my thirst for classic gaming has not gone unquenched! First on our agenda was a trip to The Mall of America in Minnesota!

Bask in its materialistic glory.

For those of you who either don't live in the mid-north of the United States, or are simply out of the know (seriously, I grew up in Colorado and had heard of this place!); The Mall of America is a mighty monument to capitalism and consumerism. Located in Minnesota, it is the second largest shopping mall in the United States in terms of usable retail space. The only thing surprising about the mall is that there isn't a mammoth bronze statue of Sam Walton out front with a plaque bearing PT Barnum’s famous, “There's one born every minute”, quote and greeting consumers with a knowing grin out in the parking lot (that distinction goes to Kingfisher Oklahoma).

We were figuring out a plan of attack on the mall. I was driving when Stacy asked what I wanted to see in there while she was glancing over the directory in the backseat. I said “nothing” as I guessed there would probably be two Game Stops and nothing else. It was a good guess in that I was right, but an easy one... Why wouldn't there be two Game Stops in the second biggest mall in the country... There's two Game Stops down the street I live off of... Fuck I hate Game Stop. 

I meandered about the second biggest Mall in the country and had lunch at A&W. On the menu for me was loaded French fries and deep-fried cheese curds (a local delicacy). Yeah, one of those would have been fine by itself, but together I swear they aged me about five years. I still get a sick feeling looking at the image below.

Looking back, this was a terrible decision.

After punishing my colon for no good reason, I continued perusing the vast consumer wasteland. Then, far off on the horizon; I beheld a store that did not appear on any directory, yet there it was before me. My eyes widened and I let out a stifled "woot" under my breath as I saw first hand...

Words cannot express... *sniff

This place is probably the coolest store I've ever been to in a mall since Funco Land vanished, and definitely only one of two kiosks I've every actually bought anything from (man that other kiosk woman was pushy). The only irritating thing about it was that Game Stop gets two full storefronts, and in the same mall this place is relegated to a crumby kiosk by some shitty comedy club. Is there no justice? Still, despite being in a crappy location on Level 3 (of 4!), they did have an incredible selection of... Well everything!

The guy behind the counter opened this up for me and it even smelled new.

They had games for the Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx 16, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, 32X, NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Cube, N64, X-Box, X-Box 360, Wii, DS, Virtual Boy, Atari 2600, and a bunch of Playstation crap and used DVDs. Really, the best selection I've seen outside of eStarland in Virginia. My mother in law had given me a $25 Visa gift card just the day before, and though I knew it went against my quest, I could not not support this store and the awesome business they run. I ended up buying two Cryo-developed games for the Sega CD: Dune and MegaRace.

Coincidentally the music for both games was composed by the talented Stéphan Picq.

Call it a moment of weakness if you like, but I defy any one of you in the presence of such a thing to deny its siren call. Besides, I didn’t actually spend any of my money on these two. There’s some more images if you click the link below. You'll get the full effect and perhaps you too will succumb to her wild charms.

Flickr Album: Hi-Score Video Games